


Reddie's Happily Ever After

by orphan_account



Category: IT (2017), IT (2017) RPF, IT - Stephen King, IT Chapter 2, It Chapter 2 (2019)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Angst at the beginning, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Romantic Fluff, THEY DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but the angst is only the first chapter, no im not mad, then the happy ending they deserved that literally everyone else got
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-11-02 07:37:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20670464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Why are the straight people the only one with happy endings? Mild angst at the beginning as Richie gets to overcome his fear like he deserves, but after that it's just a Reddie happily ever after.





	1. Overcoming Fear

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna skip the angst just read the very end of this chapter, the one after this will be straight (no pun intended) into the fluff and happiness! We do not stan burying your gays,,, the end of this movie made me so mad it brought me back into fanfic after 3+ years. Hope this makes you all happy!

Richie’s fingers dug into his face as tears stung in his eyes. As sobs racked his chest, the tears ran through his hands and dripped into the lake below. The crying grew heavier as Richie felt four pairs of arms embrace him.

It should have been six, he thought. Stanley didn’t deserve to die, but there wasn’t anything Richie could have done. But Eddie-

Richie frantically tried to think of a joke. Anything he could say to lighten the mood, to make people laugh, to convince them that he was okay. But all he could think of was Eddie, how warm his skin is— was, and how dry his hair was from the constant washing, and most of all the shame. The fear that Eddie would realize that Richie wanted to be more than friends. The fear that the rest of the group would find out and leave him like everyone else had. Richie wanted so badly to believe that it was all Pennywise making him afraid, but there was no denying that he was still just as scared now. Richie took some deep breaths and embraced his friends around him. IT was dead, and Richie was sick of being afraid.

“I’m sorry,” Richie said. His voice was thick with mucus. “I just… I loved him, you guys.” He blinked his eyes open and, eyes blurred by tears and his lack of glasses, could just make out four faces, smiling sadly.

“Oh, Rich,” Beverly sighed, putting a hand on his cheek and touching her forehead to his. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” She was crying now, and Richie assumed the others were too. He couldn’t see them, though. Which gave him the material he needed to make one of his jokes.

“Sorry, why are all of you crying? Without my glasses I’m afraid I don’t recognize any of you.”

Richie stayed above water as the others dove in search of his glasses, noting Bev and Ben’s mysterious and lengthy disappearance for future ammunition. Against his best efforts, Richie’s face broke into a smile. It was the first genuine smile after the years of fake ones onstage. Richie wiped away more tears, but there was an edge of happiness to them now. He was still mourning, but Richie knew that Eddie would want him to celebrate. He didn’t have to live in fear anymore, in more ways than one. 

~~~

Even though Pennywise was dead, the fence Richie was pulling up to gave him the same sense of dread as one of IT’s illusions. Maybe more, now that he was certain that the fence was real. There were no tears left as Richie got out of his car, they had all been spent in the lake and over Eddie’s body. That didn’t mean Richie’s throat didn’t close up as he carefully carved 27 years’ worth of grime out of the engraving. He had chosen it carefully: no names, no heart, just two letters. There was no way it could be traced back to him, but he still got the adrenaline rush out of the illusion of honesty. Peeking to either side to make sure no one was around, Richie pressed his lips softly to the wood. Thank goodness it was too old and worn to have splinters.

Richie jerked backwards as a familiar voice came from behind him. “Do you know how many diseases are on that thing?” Richie wanted so badly to turn around, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t bear to turn around and see an empty road, to know that he had finally lost it.

As if answering his concern, Richie heard footsteps behind him. “Rich, it’s me-”

“No!” Richie said, whipping around to shake the false hand off. “You’re not real, we killed you!” But it wasn’t Pennywise behind him. It was Eddie, nervously holding his hands up in front of him. Richie’s eyes darted to Eddie’s palms, the oath scar now gone like everyone else’s.

Mike’s voice echoed in his head. Nothing lasts forever. Their scars had been unwritten. Now, so had Eddie’s death. Although he didn’t remember getting up, Richie was suddenly on his feet. The only thing he could process was Eddie’s face. He was wringing his hands and his eyebrows were creased in that endearing little way.

“I mean I wouldn’t say you killed me,” said Eddie, misunderstanding Richie’s lingering fear of Pennywise. “It was more the clown than anything.” Richie slowly laid his hands on Eddie’s chest, afraid that they would pass right through and he would be alone again. But there was Eddie, warm and solid and so incredibly short. Richie was wrong, he wasn’t out of tears after all.

“Eddie, I-” Richie couldn’t make the words come as Eddie peeked around him to see the fence, the freshly carved “R + E” now glaringly obvious among the other faded marks.

“Was that from before?” Eddie asked. Richie’s stomach plummeted. Eddie knew what the initials were, he had always been more observant than he looked. Richie couldn’t do anything but nod. Eddie let out a soft laugh and Richie flinched, ready for every nightmare he had had where Eddie abandoned him. But a soft, small hand gently tilted Richie’s head back down and he cracked an eye open.

Eddie was smiling ear-to-ear. The laugh wasn’t cruelty, it was relief.

And that smile widened against Richie’s mouth as the two kissed. Richie didn’t know who had kissed who, but all he cared about was Eddie, whose breath was hot on his lips. It was gentle like everything else about Eddie and, more importantly, unmistakably alive.


	2. A Confrontation (?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie confronts a smaller obstacle before facing the Losers again.

Richie’s lips spread into his classic shit-eating grin as he pulled away from Eddie.

“You know people call me a trashmouth, right? That has to include like, at least three necrotic diseases.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Eddie laughed, giving Richie a soft shove. Richie’s gut twinged with the knowledge that Eddie was here, alive, and that their lips had just been together. The twist tightened as Richie realized that his coat was still wrapped around Eddie’s shoulders. Eddie seemed to realize this at the same time. His eyes widened and he began scrabbling for grip against the material.

“No no no,” Richie interrupted, reaching under Eddie’s hands and adjusting the collar with a tug. “It looks better on you.” Eddie blinked.

“What, no comment about how you fucked my mother in it or some shit?” Richie’s laugh was so full that it echoed down the road.

“You have learned well, young padawan.” Richie hoped the tenderness in his voice was adequately covered by the bite of humor. He told himself it was from the desire to hide his soft side and be a comedian rather than Pennywise’s lasting sway.

Richie nodded to his car. “Well come on Prodigal Son, we’ve gotta spread the news that you’ve risen from the great beyond!”

“I think you mean Lazarus,” Eddie said. “And that’s not how this worked at all.” But Richie noticed the flash of a smirk light Eddie’s face before his face disappeared below the car roof.

~~~

Eddie had insisted on contacting his wife first. Richie questioned his decision, but that was nothing new. He kept his big mouth shut, knowing that after their kiss Eddie needed to deal with Mrs. Kaspbrack 2.0 ASAP or else he wouldn’t be able to function in front of any of the Losers. And telling your wife you kissed a man was probably easier than confronting the friends you died in front of just a few hours ago. Maybe.

As the phone rang, Eddie’s fingers danced nervously on the case. He shakily smiled at the tone of his wife picking up.

“Hi,” he said in that sticky sweet voice he used to invoke to appease his mother. “Can we talk for a se-“

“I’m leaving you,” she said. Eddie blinked for a moment, and Richie almost veered off the road. He could barely stifle a snort. “I’ve fallen in love. With a woman. I was hoping your ~adorable~ baby face and ~sweet little tiny body~ would be able to convince me otherwise, but I’m not into men.” Richie’s blood curdled at the all-too-familiar baby voice that would probably send Eddie running off a cliff if it asked. The blood pounded in Richie’s ears as Eddie stammered.

“Oh, uh… me too. I mean I’m not into women, not that I’m not into men. I am into men. In more ways than one. Haha... But the denial thing doesn’t apply to me. You’re not manly or anything. I’ve just got unresolved mommy issues-“ She hung up.

Eddie set the phone in his lap with a sigh. “Well,” Richie said, “that was easy.”


End file.
